Shadowless roofing product, process and machine for making the same



March 29, 1938. G' W|1 |FORD' 2,112,819

SHADOWLESS ROOFING PRODUCT; PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 8, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l March 29, 1938. GgwlLLn-'ORD 2,112,819

SHADOWLESS ROOFING PRODUCT, PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 8, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 29, 1938. G wlLLlFORD 2,112,819

SHADOWLESS ROOFING PRODUCT, PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR MAKING TH SAME Filed Nov. e, 1954 3 sheets-sheet 3 Patented Mar. 29, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHADOWLESS ROOHNG PRODUCT, PROC`` ESS AND MACHINE FOR MAKING ATHE SAME a corporation of Illinois Application November 8, 1934, Serial No. 751,996

7 claims.

This invention relates to a roofing product, to-v gether with the method or process and the machine for making such product. For purposes of convenience, the invention is referred to as a product wherein shadows are eliminated, and the process and machine are described as a process and machine for producing roofing or shingles wherein the shadows heretofore existing in connection with articial shingles have been elimnated.

It has always been diicult, in making shingle products artificially, to take care of the problem of shadows which apparently is inevitably created by the method now employed for making such shingles. iicial roofing and shingles are made by coating a base element with an adhesive coating of asphalt or similar material. Granules formed of slate or other materials are then deposited on the sheet from a hopper as the sheet is progressed under said hopper.

'I'hese granules are in the form of very small fiat pieces of material, and it has been discovered that, as they drop upon the adhesive coated web, they tend to assume a tilted position with respect to the web. 'I'hat is vto say, the at slate particles fall upon the sheet so that the sharp edges slightly penetrate into and are held by the adhesive, with the result that an appreciable number-in most cases, the majorityof the particles are in positions wherein the at surface of the granule is in other than a parallel direction to the surface of the web and, beca-use of the forward movement of the sheet, have a tilt in the direction away from the direction of travel. It is, furthermore, almost the universal practice to pass the thus-gritted web under a presser roll to promote the adhesion thereof with the coating on the web and press the particles more firmly into adhering relation with the adhesive coating, and it has been found that this pressing aggravates the tilt in the aforesaid direction.

'I'his tilt of the granules results in what is known as shadows in shingles. That is, if the roong web is viewed from one direction, it will appear much lighter than when viewed from the other direction. Viewed from a direction in which the observer looks in under the angularly positioned granules, he will observe the shadows cast by the plurality of granules and', accordingly, the web from that direction will appear darker, whereas, viewing the web 'from the opposite end, the observer will belooking toward the top side of the granules, which of course makes the web from It may be briefly pointed out that artisuch direction appear much lighter than when viewed from the opposite direction.

'Ihe web in question, which has been thus coated and gritted with granules, is very frequently cut lengthwise of the web into. a plurality of ribbons which are then cut transversely to make strip shingles. These strip shingles usuallyV have the butt or tab portion cut at the middle of the web, thereby to avoid excessive waste, and the shingles are then packaged as they come from the conveyor. It is obvious that, to put the shingles into a package as they come from the cutter, it will be necessary to turn one shingle to the left and the other to the right in order that the tab or butt ends thereof shall be facing in the same direction in the packaged stack. This results in the alternate shingles beingfdark shingles and the ones therebetween being light shingles. A great deal of additional labor is then required to insure all of the lefts being packaged in one lot while all of the rights are packaged in another lot. This method of packaging is in appreciable demand because in many localities the roofing contractors insist that rights and lefts not be mixed because where the lights are strong the shadow effects, whereby alternate shingles may be dark and light, are very pronounced.

A study of this problem indicates that the shadows may be eliminated only by insuring that the granules shall not cast shadows by reason of being positioned angularly with respect to the flat surface of the web. This has been accomplished by insuring the granules falling from the hopper onto the adhesively coated web in suchv direction that they will thereafter be so acted upon by the presser rolls that when pressed the granules `do not exhibit the above-discussed shadow effect.

Accordingly, the invention consists not only in providing, as an actual product, a strip shingle and/or,if desired,-roofing in the roll, in both of which the shadows are eliminated, but it also contemplates a method for insuring the production of such a shadowless roofing or roofing element and a machine in which the product can be Wade. f'-

The entire invention may be best illustrated in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which: n

Figure 1 is a very much enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a roofing element manufactured in accordance with the heretofore known methods, this gure being included only in order clearly to illustrate what is meant by the shadows on an artificially prepared roong element, it being noted that the flat granules are so arranged that they cast a shadow when the element is viewed from the left.

Figure l-A is a plan view of la. web of roong material which has been supplied with grits as in Figure 1, the web being shown as cut into hex strip shingles (by being split longitudinally into long ribbon-like members, which latter are cut transversely into strips) and said hex strips being shown as taken off the end of the cutting machine for assembly into stacks. To clarify the illustration, two stacks-one of so-called light shingles and the other of dark shingles- `are shown, but it will be understood that assembly into two stacks is one of the major inconveniences now encountered, which it is the purpose of this invention to eliminate. If this extra assembly step were not followed-i. e.,'if the shingles were all placed in one stack-it would be impossible to avoid confusion in laying the shingles.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, enlarged in the same respect as Fig. 1, of a roong element in which the granules are-so disposed with respect to the web that the shadows are eliminated; that is, they are fiat with respect to the web and do not cast a shadow irrespective of the direction from which the element is viewed.

Fig. 3 is an elevational sectional view of the elements necessary fully to describe the method and machine used in the production of the shadowless roong element shown in Fig. 2,-it being understood that the showing is largely diagrammatic and that no attempt has been made to put in all of the necessary gears, belts, rollers, and the'other elements which would be embodied in a commercially operated machine, this method of `essary to add those operating elements which have been omitted, it being understood that the acceptance of such showing by the Patent Office endorses the same as a satisfactory constructive reduction to practice.

Fig. 4 shows the web and granule feed and presser elements of Fig. 3 in considerable enlargement so that the position of the grits with relation to the web -at the several points in the manufacture of the shadowless roofing element can be readily understood.

Preliminarily, it will be understood that many of the. parts of the roofing element, as well as of the diagrammatic machine, are out of proportion with respect tothe other parts, such illustration, however, being deemed necessary and desirable clearly to demonstrate the present invention.

Referring now to the View shown in Fig. 1, a foundation or base member I0 of a roofing element is coated with an adhesive-asphalt II in which'granules l2 have been embedded, it being understood that the said element is of the general type now known in the industry, in which no provision has been madev for shadow elimination.- It is obvious that the aforesaid element will be darker or cast more of a shadow when viewed from the left hand end than when viewed from the right hand end thereof. In other words, in looking at the element from the left hand end, one looks in under the angularly positioned granules and of course sees the shadows cast thereby, while, in looking at the element from the other end, one looks over the granules which of course are reiiecting light towards the observer, with the result that the roofing element viewed from the right hand end appears much lighter.

Fig. l-A is a plan view of a web or roofing v material formed as shown in Fig. 1 and, merely as an illustration, the web has been cut longitudinally into a series of ribbons which have on one of their edges a hexagonal design. Cuts are indicated whereby the strips thus formedby the longitudinal cutting may be transversely severed to produce strip shingles. For purposes of convenience, the web is shown as cut in the middle, because such a web is fairly illustrative of the hereafter discussed situation. It will be understood, of course, that in many commercial plants the web is cut into four strips. That is, a straight cut is made down the middle and the hex cuts are, made at the quarter and three-quarter line across the web. The DL and L -D notations indicate the so-called dark and light sides or ends of the shingles and are used so that the shingles may be readily followed as they are stacked.

At the lower end is illustrated the manner in which the thus formed hex shingle strips are taken from the cutting machine. It will be observed that, in order to stack the shingles with the hex tabs all pointing in one direction, it is necessary to arrange shingles from alternate sides one on top of the other, which inevitably causes alternate shingles to be alternately light and dark. If it is necessary, in order to satisfy the demands of the particular locality in which the shingles are to be used, additional labor must be provided to insure all of the lefts being placed in one stack and all of the rights being placed in another stack, so that the contractor, when receiving the shingles, may use only lefts on one roof and rights on another roof. The necessity for supplying this latter demand has been a very considerable factor inthe high cost of producing strip shingles, and the invention hereinafter discussed, therefore. results not only in a uniform product but also in a very distinct saving in labor cost in preparing the shingles for the market.

Having now discussed the shingles heretofore known in the industry and the costly and laborious methods occasioned in handling the shingles i by reason of the aforesaid eiiect, the manner of insuring a shadowless roofing element will be described. In this connection, reference should be had to Figs. 3 and 4 which, as heretofore explained, are diagrammatic onlsr and do not show completed machines, although it is to be understood that I consider such machine well within` the scope of the machine claims hereinafter appended and only omit the various gears and other devices in order to simplify the present description.

As shown, the web I0 is progressed under a vessel i3 which supplies the upper surface of said web with a. coating asphalt. The lweb then is progressed to the point where the granules l2' are deposited thereon from a, hopper I4, the outlet of said hopper being supplied with the usual roller feed member I5. It has been found, after a considerable study as to the reason for the above-discussed shadows on shingles, that, when the granules are dropped directly on the web from the hopper, they so positionthemselves that when the web isr contacted with a pressure roll I 6 the aforcdescribed angular position of granules results, with the consequent definite formation of shadows when the roofing element is viewed from one direction. The method whereby these shadows may be eliminated contemplates so operating that the granules will be deposited on the coated web in such direction that they,- when pressed down into the coating by the roller IB,-will lie fiat on the web and not be angularly positioned with respect thereto. A broad statement of the novel method may, therefore, be the deposition of the granules on the web with the flat side of the granule parallel to the surface of the web.

One means of insuring the practice of such method is to provide a deflector plate I1, which is canted or angularly located in such position that it deflects the granules and causes them so to fall upon the coated web that, when the said granules later are pressed against the web by the roller I6, the granules lie flat with relationto said web, with a consequent elimination of the cause which produces the shadows.

Fig. 4 illustrates, in three views, successive steps in the travel of the web, beginning at the time the granules fall thereupon from the deilector plate and progressing through the point where the presser roll acts to dispose said granules flat against the web, the manner in which these granules Yappear after the web has been pressed by roller I6 being shown at the extreme right.

Inasmuch as the web is progressed to the right, the substantially flat faced granules,-unless particular pains are taken to provide other- Wise,-will fall onto the adhesive and partially embed themselves edgewise into the coating in such manner that they stand in the tilted position shown in Fig. 1. When, thereafter, the thus-tilted granules encounter the pressing member or roller, the flat faces of the granules are parallel to the operative portion of said roller (the diameter of the roller being so great cornpared to the lateral dimension of the individual granule), with the result that the granules are so engaged that pressure is exerted against the face and at the bottom of the granules, thereby to push them into the adhesive in an edgewise direction, rather than to turn or pivot them to lay them down at against the web. The granules are, therefore, finally disposed in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

Accordingly, even though the surface of the presser roll moves into close proximity to the web surface, it is impossible to lay the granules parallel to said web; the increased pressure thereupon merely embeds the granules deeper in the coating but does not substantially alter the tilted or angular position *hereof with respect to the horizontal. Although many drawings of surfaced roofing show granules with their at faces parallel to the web, such condition is practically not attained in surfaced roofing made as hereinbefore described. The aforesaid inescapable result of the method of granule deposition employed in the present manufacture of surfaced roofing is thecause of the uniform existenceof the shadows hereinbefore described.

Because the granules in the now used method are tilted with their surfaces somewhat parallel to the roller surface, the action exerted by the latter on the granules is entirely different from that exerted by a similar roller on granules which are tilted in a reverse direction. If the method of the herein described invention is followed and the granules are deliberately so fed onto the coating that they fall in an oblique position with the lower edge further to the left (referring to Fig. 4) than the upper edge, these granules will then stick into the adhesive with their upper edges tilted in the direction of web travel. When granules positioned as shown at the left of Fig. 4 reach the presser roll, the latter first contacts against the high point or top edge of the granules and,-since this roller rotates in the same direction as that in which the granules on the web are traveling,the granules are turned downward rather than being pressed edgewise into the adhesive, with the result that,-as the granules pass under the lowest point of the presser roller, they are forced down so that their fiat faces are parallel to the surface of the web.

Accordingly, the object hereinbefore pointed` out is attained by taking specific care that the granules are initially so fed onto the adhesivelycoated web that they are embedded edgewise therein and tilted in a direction contrary to that in which they would stand if the aforesaid precautions were not employed. `It is not enough to merely deflect the granules in any haphazard shadowless roong element, the term shadowless being understood, of course, from the preceding explanation, an'd the method, moreover, is broadly stated as the steps in making a roofing element which comprises so depositing the granules or grits thereupon as to prevent the casting of a shadow by those granules. 'I'he inventions have been described in connection with strip shingles. Here again, however, this explanation has been for convenience only and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. Single shingles or roll roofing may similarly under certain conditions exhibit shadows, and it is the purpose of the aforedescribed invention to produce a roofing element, irrespective of its shape or form, in which those shadows do not exist.

Moreover, it is to be understood that the showing of the machine, in connection with which the process is practiced, is illustrative only and that one skilled in the art will be able to vary the proportions and design of the elements shown without departing from the spirit of the invention.

With this understanding, the heretofore discussed inventions are to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a shadowless roofing element including a base having an adhesive coating and substantially iiat faced granules adhering thereto, said granules being of such size that a plurality thereof cast an appreciable shadow Ywhen disposed in non-parallel relation to said base, which method comprises feeding a p the granules tilted in the direction of web travel, and thereafter contacting the top portions of the tilted granules to turn them down to cause the flat surfaces thereof to be disposed parallel to said web.

2. 'Ihe method of forming a shadowless roofing element including a base having an adhesive coating and substantially flat faced granules adhering thereto, said granules being of such size that a plurality thereof cast an appreciable shadow when disposed in non-parallel relation to said base, which method comprises feeding a stream of" such granules onto a horizontally traveling adhesively coated web, guiding said stream of granules to a point closely adjacent the coated surface of said web and at such an angle to the horizontal as to cause said granules intially to stand inftilted position with respect to said adhesive coating with the upper edges of the granules tilted in the direction of web travel, and

thereafter contacting the top portions of the tilted granules to turn them down to cause the fiat surfaces' thereof to be disposed parallel to said web.

3. 'I'he method of forming a shadowless roofing element including a, base having an adhesive coating and substantially fiat faced granules adhering thereto, said granules being of such size that a plurality rthereof cast an appreciable shadow when disposed in non-parallel relation to said base, which method comprises feeding a stream of such granules onto a traveling adhesively coated web, guiding said stream of granules for oblique angular movement with respect to the direction of travel of said web to a point closely adjacent the coated surface thereof so as to cause the lower edges of said granules to engage the coating rearwardly of the top edges, and thereafter contacting the top edges of the granules to cause the granules to pivot about their lower edges into substantially parallel relation to said web.

4. The method of forming a shadowless roofing element including a base having an adhesive coating and substantially flat faced granules adhering thereto, said granules being of such size that a plurality thereof cast an appreciable shadow when disposed in non-parallel relation toA said base, which method comprises continuously progressing said base beneath a stream of such granules, guiding said stream of granules onto said web at an oblique angle to the direction of travel, said stream being guided to a point closely adjacent the adhesive coating to cause the lower edges of said granules to so engage the adhesive coating that the granules are tilted in the direction of travel, and thereafter pressing said granules into flat parallel relation to said base.

5. The method of forming a shadowless roong element including a base having an adhesive coating and substantially flat faced granules adhering thereto, said granules being of such size that av plurality thereof cast an appreciable shadow when disposed in non-parallel relation to said base, which method comprises horizontally progressing said base beneath a stream of said granules, guiding said stream of granules to a point closely adjacent the surfaceof said web and at such an angle to the horizontal as to cause the lower edges of the granules to engage the adhesive coating on said surface with the granulesv tilted in the direction of web travel, and thereafter passing said web through pressure rolls to contact the upper edges of said tiltedA granules and pivot the granules about their lower edges into parallel relation with said web.

6. A roofing element of the type formed by progressing an adhesively coated web beneath a stream of substantially flat faced granules, which element comprises a body portion of said web material and a. coating of said granules disposed with the flat faces thereof parallel to said body portion, said granules being of such size as to cast an appreciable shadow if disposed in non-parallel 1relation to said body portion, and said granules being applied to said web by initially depositing said granules on said adhesive coating in forwardly tilting positions and thereafter pressing said granules into said parallel positions.

'7. A roofing element of the type formed by progressing an adhesively coated web beneath a stream of substantially fiat faced .granules and thereafter separating said surfaced web into a plurality of elements, which roofing element comprises a body portion of said web material and a coating of said granules disposed with the at faces thereof substantially parallel to said body portion, said granules being applied to said web by initially depositing said granules on the adhesive coating in forwardly tilting position and thereafter pressing said granules into said parallel relation with said web, said granules being of such size as to cast an appreciable shadow if disposed in non-parallel relation to said body portion, whereby the light reflecting characteristics of the surfaced face of said roofing element are the same irrespective of the direction from which said element is viewed.

GROVER WILLIFORD. 

